Kevin Magnus­sen has hailed the impact McLaren team-mate Jenson Button has so far had on his burgeon­ing Formula One career.

In his rookie campaign Mag­nussen has performed creditably, although has yet to again scale the heady heights of his debut race when he finished as runner-up in Australia.

Instead, it has been another tough campaign for all at McLaren, and to that end Magnussen is grate­ful to 15-season veteran Button showing him the ropes.

With Button out of contract at the end of the year, whilst Magnus­sen naturally has no say as to whom he would like as his team-mate, his remarks certainly favour the 34-year-old Briton.

“It doesn’t really matter what I think, but what I do think is I have a great team-mate,” said Magnussen.

“For me, as a rookie, to have someone like Jenson next to me, with all his experience, speed and talent as well, has been great.

“I can honestly say I’ve learned a lot from him, and I expect to con­tinue that because he’s a complete driver.”

The 21-year-old Dane, however, insists he has far from been playing the role of pupil to Button’s teacher.

Magnussen added: “We’re team-mates, and it’s a very normal, healthy relationship.

“He’s not my mentor, teacher or anything like that. All he does is push and do the best he can for the team, and I learn from that.”